After an emotional run through the National Premier Soccer League’s postseason, Midland-Odessa FC finds itself on the verge of glory.

MOFC is one victory away from the franchise’s first national championship and will battle the Elm City Express (13-1-2) at 7:15 p.m. CT today at Yale University’s Reese Stadium in New Haven, Connecticut, for the NPSL crown.

But the process by which MOFC (12-3-0) will even get to compete in today’s final seems as miraculous as its playoff run has been inspiring.

“It has been a whirlwind and a crazy week,” said MOFC General Manager and Director of Soccer Operation Jeff VonHolle. “You make it this far and it’s something you’re supposed to be excited about and we are very excited. But it has been stressful trying to piece it all together. It’s strange. It’s really hard to put into words.”

MOFC’s roster, which featured 19 NCAA Division I players at the start of the season, was whittled down to 18 total by midseason after a number of players departed the club for various reasons.

In last week’s 4-2 penalty kick victory over Detroit City FC in the national semifinal, MOFC competed with 15 players -- a majority of them from the Division I level.

But all along, the club was facing a ticking clock. Head coach Matt Barnes and VonHolle said they knew the club would take a hit to its numbers if it advanced to today’s final.

NCAA rules allow its players to compete with clubs not affiliated with the NCAA up until one day before enrollment at their respective schools.

VonHolle said he and Barnes were under the impression that the coaches of the Division I players on the roster would allow their players to finish the season with MOFC and compete for the national championship before returning to their respective programs for training.

However, that timeline abruptly changed when the university’s compliance departments asked that the players return to their college programs for the start of practices -- a date that conflicted with today’s match.

The result was devastating for the club, which was left with only five players from the original roster -- three Division II players and a pair of NAIA players -- just five days ahead of today’s final.

Over the next few days, the staff and front office scrambled to locate six other players to help fill an 11-man side for MOFC. Barnes and his staff faced complications from the NPSL regarding the rules for signing players and even faced a very real possibility of having to forfeit the match.

But ultimately they pieced together a full starting 11 from the club’s original list of recruited players. Though the club will compete without a true goalkeeper and without any center backs, Barnes said he was overjoyed and grateful to those players who answered the call for the franchise.

Now, 14 players, coaches and staff will be traveling to New Haven. VonHolle said that contingent, which includes himself and assistant coach Dave Jacobs, converged on New Haven from close to a double-digit number of different locations around the United States.

One of MOFC’s players even had to fly from Australia to Los Angeles International airport, before connecting from Los Angeles to Connecticut.

Thusly, the club has not had any practice time this week and faced the legitimate task of getting all 14 of its personnel to Reese Stadium in time. Of the 11 players, only six have seen game action with MOFC this season.

But no matter the obstacle, Barnes said his players’ desire to compete today never wavered. Even if MOFC had to play severely shorthanded, they wanted nothing more than to take the shot they’ve earned.

“(It’s like) ‘I’m in trouble and I need some help and you’ve got 11 of your buddies to help you in a fight in the back alley,’” Barnes said. “It has been a roller coaster and to have these guys drop everything and come back to help us play for a national championship, it was inspiring.

“The five guys we had (originally), they all said they wanted to play, even if we were one, two or three men down. It’s an incredible showing.”

VonHolle reinforced the club’s desire to keep its approach throughout the week positive. The team endured a number of hardships to get to this point, but the pride that comes with representing West Texas in a national final match trumps all.

“We’re keeping everything positive,” VonHolle said. “We’re doing the best we can with a bad a situation and I’m glad we were able to get 11 players to compete for a national championship. A chance to compete for a national championship at any level in any sport is exciting.”

Barnes added that the club’s strategy to today’s match will follow the franchise’ basic blueprint every summer: Bring in a collection of talented players, prepare them on the fly and go compete.

“At the end of the day, it goes back to what we do every summer,” Barnes said. “We get a group of guys together, get them ready in three or four days and then go play. I’ve never had this experience before, but we’ll put them together and our staff will try to prep a tactical plan like we do every week.

“I’m proud of these guys, our staff and our ownership for letting us go do this.”